Chicago Twilight Network

Cigarette Dawn

Cigarette Dawn (•)
Some places and times have an air of melancholy. Watching the sun rise
over an old mining town, or sitting with a thermos of coffee in a graveyard
and waiting for time to pass. A few places — those around the gates to the
Underworld — kindle a special kind of melancholy, an aura that a Sin-Eater
can capitalize on to ask one of the living a sensitive question about someone
who has died. Sharing a cigarette, the Sin-Eater can ask things that most people
could never get away with.
Performing the Ceremony: The Sin-Eater must meet with his companion
within 20 yards of an Avernian Gate. She opens a fresh packet of
cigarettes and taps the bottom until one juts up above the rest. She has to
place that one filter-side down back in the pack — that smoke’s for the dead
man. She offers the first cigarette to her companion, takes one, and then
lights both from the same lighter without letting it go out. Only after both
parties have taken their first drag is either allowed to speak. Some of the
Bound use a version of this ceremony with strong drink replacing tobacco, as
long as the spirit is right for the area and her companion: dark rum’s good in
the Caribbean, while most Scotsmen won’t refuse a single malt whisky. The
important thing is the Sin-Eater bringing the indulgence, and both parties
partaking in silence.
Dice Pool: Psyche + Presence
Action: Extended (3 successes required)
Time Increment: The Sin-Eater can roll for this ceremony once
every turn.

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: Something the Sin-Eater says offends
her companion. He might accuse her of disrespecting
the dead, or just refuse to talk, but any Presence rolls made
against him suffer a -3 modifier.
Failure: The moment doesn’t ever really get that special,
and the Sin-Eater forges no real connection.
Success: Noises seem to retreat, and the light plays
with the smoke in interesting patterns. Tinged with melancholy,
the Sin-Eater’s companion wants to tell his story.
The Sin-Eater can ask three questions about someone that
her companion knows who is now dead, and he will answer
as truthfully as he can.
Exceptional Success: Something seems to click between
the Sin-Eater and her companion. Until the end of
the scene, she gains a +1 bonus to all Empathy, Persuasion,
and Socialize rolls made when talking to him.